Victorian Premier Denis Napthine says Qantas' decision is disappointing and he's still trying to get information on where job losses will occur.

Napthine said he understands that most job losses will be outside the state.

He said the government will work with the company and other governments to help sacked workers find new work.

Napthine said he has confidence in the Victorian economy and says jobs are growing. He said the state government has a positive relationship with Qantas, in particular Jetstar.

But state Oppositon Leader Daniel Andrews said the Napthine government had no plan for jobs in Victoria. He said the Premier took the credit for every new job created but blamed companies or ''some other factor'' when jobs were lost.

He said Qantas workers in Victoria would have a tough time retraining because the TAFE sector had been ''gutted'' by state cuts:

This is a tragedy. We as a state used to lead the way, now we have slipped so far behind and Victoria deserves better than a premier as a bystander.

Qantas is a national company, an international company really, it has no allegiance to our state, it is not the job of Qantas to be championing Victoria - that's the job of the Victorian government.

All he (Napthine) does is go to photo opportunities with Tony Abbott after more job losses.

Meanwhile, up in Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney had the following to say:

Well it is very disturbing for us to see any potential job losses in Queensland, but at the end of the day, Qantas, like other companies, has to be able to operate profitably.

We are very happy to work with Qantas to do what we can as a government to ensure that they do operate profitably, we will continue to work with them to make Queensland an attractive place for them to do business and for them to place considerable amount of their operations and we are waiting like everyone else today to see the details.

1:20pm on 27 Feb 2014

Trust us on the benefits of its tie-up with Emirates, is a message out of the analyst brifing. Qantas didn't reveal the financial benefit of its alliance but talked up how it's received strong support from customers.

Qantas International chief executive Simon Hickey said the tie-up provided the airline with a competitive network, giving it one-stop services to continental Europe.

But he declined to give a figure on its financial benefit to Qantas, citing commercial confidentiality.

Hickey also declined to comment on speculation Qantas is in talks with British Airways about forming a code-share deal with British Airways on flights between Hong Kong and London.

Qantas last year ditched its tie-up with BA on the kangaroo route to London in favour of Emirates.

1:11pm on 27 Feb 2014

Ahead of tomorrow's key meeting in Sydney between Qantas management and unions, the latter are ramping up the rhetoric:

''It is going to be a really tough for anyone who works at Qantas,'' Stitt says. "I am very concerned about anyone losing their job in Victoria given the current climate.

"There are thousands of people employed by Qantas and Jetstar across the group and I think it is very important to fight for every one of those jobs."

Stitt says the union is always prepared to talk with the airline but has to balance the company's needs against its members' wishes. She says the union will need to assess the company's claim that it needed a wage freeze until it's in profit.

"That is an indefinite claim. We will have to talk that through carefully with our delegates and our members and we expect to get more information about that tomorrow.''

Linda White, assistant national secretary of the ASU, which represents check-in, clerical, finance and administration staff, said Qantas has indicated 1500 ‘‘back office’’ jobs will be lost. She said the company had spoken about the positions ‘‘as if they don’t do anything’’.

She says he union will oppose a staff wage freeze when it meets with Qantas officials tomorrow. More than 60 per cent of the workers earn base salaries of $37,000 to $57,000 and 35 per cent are part time.

Shareholders obviously think so too, with the share price plunging after the company released its long-anticipated half year results.

The problem is Joyce is yet to outline the full details of a big strategic review, which was expected today.

Will its frequent flyer business be floated? What other assets might be sold besides the terminals? And most importantly, how will unions and the Abbott government react?

Qantas has announced 5000 jobs will go over the next three years, shrinking the workforce to 27,000. It will also call for a wage freeze across the company.

How wage freeze discussions will go down will be interesting given the carrier has 14 different union groups and 54 enterprise bargaining agreements, each of which are open for negotiation at various times. It will be interesting to see how the unions react and whether it triggers industrial action.

The analyst briefing has come to an end now. Here are some more points that were mentioned (or not):

Regarding Qantas International, no details were given on which regions are bleeding the most.

The fall in the dollar has driven a lot of profits out of Australia for foreign carriers. But because much of the new capacity has come from state owned carriers, this means they are slower to respond to revenue shifts.

As for selling off other terminals beyond Brisbane, progress may take time.

"Sydney discussions have been ongoing for a long period of time," analysts were told, with "significant operational issues to resolve" since this terminal is the hub for the groups domestic operations.

As for Melbourne, talks are at an earlier stage, and even earlier for Perth.

Qantas is profitable domestically especially since it has more than 80 per cent of the corporate market, the airline says. Hence its network spread and frequency is fundamental.

At the leisure end of the domestic market, Jetstar has a strong competitive position also thanks to the network, Joyce says:

You lose that advantage to your peril ... at both ends of the market. That is the key. We're not the aggressor in adding capacity, and Virgin-Tiger will add more capacity, even though it continues to lose money.

We need to keep that relative competitive position at both ends of the market.

12:52pm on 27 Feb 2014

Qantas has made it clear the tie-up with Emirates played a key role in shoring up its competitive position on the European route, says Brian Robins who's been listening in on the analyst briefing for us:

The Emirates alliance provides a competitive network, analysts have been told, since it allows a one-stop to-Europe trip whereas Qantas before the alliance had two stops.

"In terms of keeping our customers it has been very significant," analysts were told, but no financial details of the tie-up were given.

But the million dollar question is when will Qantas be profitable again?

"When and where that will happen will depend on ... exchange rate, fuel prices and the level of competitor activity," Joyce says.

But the focus from here will shift to negotiating with Qantas unions - in particular, avoiding industrial unrest which could disrupt flights.

Joyce says that he is to meet the head of the ACTU tomorrow, along with other union heads.

Focus will now shift to negotiations with the unions, to ensure there's no industrial action that would lead to flight disruptions. Photo: Bloomberg

12:35pm on 27 Feb 2014

Some reactions from the Opposition in Canberra coming in:

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says Qantas’ decision to cut 5000 jobs is the worst day for aviation in Australia since the collapse of Ansett and has accused the government of inaction as the airline signalled a need for support back in December.

Shorten says Labor will continue to support the airline being majority Australian-owned, as well as keeping its head office and board Australian-based.

He says it's time the federal government made clear whether it will offer a debt guarantee to the airline, rather than playing games and focusing on changes to the Sale Act:

They have been sending messages if Qantas makes what the Abbott government calls the hard decisions, they would come in behind them, they have been saying they would consider a debt guarantee.

Is it the case Qantas has made the very hard decisions, will the Abbott government back up what they have been hinting and promising the market, consumers, the aviation public or will they play political games and focus solely on the Sale Act?

The rest of the world has government intervention in their airlines. We would be the bunnies if we just waved goodbye to an Australian icon. If we believe there is a level playing field and somehow the rest of the world isn't investing in their airline, that would be a mistake.

Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt says the government should seek guarantees jobs would not be sent offshore before moving to offer support to the airline:

Alan Joyce and Qantas are a flight risk. Money and jobs could be on the next 747 flight to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, if foreign ownership rules are relaxed and no conditions are put on government support.

It’s incredibly disappointing to see Labor today suggesting that they are open to increasing foreign ownership in Qantas. The Greens have been firm in our commitment to government support of Qantas, but only with a guarantee to protect local jobs.

Worst day for aviation since the collapse of Ansett, Bill Shorten says.

12:24pm on 27 Feb 2014

By omission, Joyce has made it clear the Qantas International arm is where the cuts have to come for the group to survive in its present form, Brian Robins notes:

In answer to an analyst question, he said that domestically Jetstar's cost base is 11 per cent below Tiger and 35 per cent below Virgin.

So clearly, this begs the question about the cost base of Qantas International, while also highlighting why Qantas is adamant about maintaining its domestic market share.

As for the "cost out program" to use analyst-speak, that will be focused on those groups in proportion to their costs, but even Jetstar won't escape the razor.

"Jetstar has a lower costs base so the scope for cutting costs is lower" but cuts will still be made.

At the same time, Qantas International will struggle to break even through 2015 given capacity pressures and the higher oil price, Joyce says.

12:21pm on 27 Feb 2014

More from the analyst briefing currently occurring in Sydney:

At its heart, Qantas intends removing $2 billion in costs by financial 2017, partly by deferring growth and by limiting capital spending to cash flows.

The measures include fleet and network changes, productivity measures, consolidation at head office and the maintenance changes such as closing the Avalon heavy maintenance unit over the next months.

"A cornerstone is changes to labour productivity," Joyce says, with the 5000 jobs to be cut by fiscal 2017, with 4000 to be cut by 2015 including 1500 from management.

Redundancy costs will be booked in 2014 and 15 of altogether $500 million, analysts have been told.

In Singapore growth of the Jetstar Asia joint venture has been suspended until conditions improve, Joyce re-iterates at the analyst meeting.

Overall Qantas intends deferring or selling more than 50 aircraft, with the focus on the A320 aircraft both domestically and internationally as it pursues fleet simplification which will reduce maintenance costs.

Here, revived competition from Virgin-Jetstar has slashed the domestic profit pool from over $700 million to under $100 million in the December half, analysts have been told, with Virgin-Tiger capacity growth running at around 5 per cent.

But it is Qantas International which will form a large part of the cost base transformation, where competitive pressures coupled with the high oil price is causing most pain.

Long day ... Alan Joyce is now addressing analysts. Photo: Tamara Dean

11:57am on 27 Feb 2014

An observation from investor Peter Morgan, as Qantas' share price takes a pounding, down 7.5 per cent at $1.175:

W.Buffett a few years ago. "Investors have poured their money into airlines and airline manufacturers for 100 years with terrible results."

Investment bank Citi has put out a quick note on the Qantas profit results, which it says were better than it had expected:

While the result was at the lower end of management’s loss range, the focus is on announced labour initiatives, which should be seen as a painful necessity in permanently adjusting the cost base of the business lower.

However, without a cost base a lot closer to Virgin’s we see Qantas as remaining exposed to further losses of higher yielding customers.

Consequently, the revenue growth of Qantas remains a function of improvements in consumer and business confidence as well as lower capacity additions by both Qantas and Virgin.

Given Qantas’s reaffirmation of their focus to retain 65% capacity market share, we would need to see a greater lead by Virgin and Tiger in reducing domestic capacity growth, which remains uncertain.

Here's a quick look at Qantas' full-year and half-year results over the past four years:

11:48am on 27 Feb 2014

More reactions flowing in now from the unions: the influential pilots' union has described the Qantas announcement as a "demolition job" which had failed to "follow through with a strategy for how it will grow the business".

Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe said the Abbott government should be "twisting management's arm to be open and honest about where" the airline was heading.

"Otherwise, it is like supporting a plan to bulldoze half a house before the blueprints to rebuild have been drawn," he said.

Qantas boss Alan Joyce made it clear earlier that no part of the group would be safe from redundancies.

Meanwhile, Steve Purvinas, the federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association (ALAEA) said the job losses were "on par" with what the union had expected but called for Joyce's scalp:

Mr Joyce said the results were unacceptable and we agree. He should be stepping down.

Air New Zealand posted record results today so the excuses don't wash. I don't know how any airline executive can continue to hold their position with results like this.

Queensland Australian Services Union branch secretary Julie Bignell has also condemned the decision to shed jobs:

ASU members across the company are front line staff. They’re in customer service, call centres and at check-in desks.

These are the people who make Qantas the company that it is today. They are the reason you fly Qantas and Jetstar.

Today’s decision shows a disregard for the loyal hard-working staff who have helped make the Qantas brand so successful. Wages and conditions are not the problem at Qantas, and Qantas should not look to punish working people for the poor business nous of the management group.

No mention of any plans to sell a part stake in Qantas’ lucrative frequent-flyer business

Or other assets such as the long term lease on terminals at Sydney and Melbourne airports

An actual breakdown of job cuts from the various divisions, including Jetstar and Qantas International

Lack of detail of changes to wages and conditions for its unionised workforce.

Still a bit to come over the next weeks and months, or as Joyce himself said: there are more tough decisions ahead.

11:32am on 27 Feb 2014

As promised, here are the main points from Alan Joyce's press conference:

Joyce has put Jetstar’s previously aggressive expansion into Asia on hold at best amid aggressive competition from other budget airlines.

He has ditched his targets to return Qantas’ beleagured international operations to profitability ny 2014-15

He has stood firmly behind Qantas’ strategy of maintaining a 65 per cent share of the domestic market

He stepped up his attacks on arch rival Virgin Australia, and complained about the ‘‘unlevel playing field’’.

Qantas talked up the benefits of its alliance with Emirates but did not give figures on its actual worth.

Apart from the headline job losses, route changes and changes to Qantas’ fleet, much of the announcement today made it clear that there was no easy fix for the national carrier.

11:28am on 27 Feb 2014

Vicki Fotiades, of North Brighton, was off to the Gold Coast this morning when Deborah Gough asked her about Qantas’ job cuts and restructuring. Here's what she thinks:

"I think the whole country is going down the gurgler."

"I am a Qantas Club member and I want to stay loyal to Qantas."

"I don't think that the government is really supporting our companies. I think they (companies) have been whittling away and now all of a sudden it has come in a gush - the auto industry, SPC, now Qantas."

"From the Abbott government's point of view everybody has to stand on their own two feet but we are just going the way of America by doing that, but this is Qantas."

11:24am on 27 Feb 2014

Transport Minister Warren Truss has singled out Qantas’ high costs and wages as a key factor weighing the airline down and says the government will monitor markets’ reaction to the airline’s reported $252 million underlying loss on Thursday before moving to respond.

Truss also warned the airline the government expected it to dip into its own cash reserves before seeking federal support.

He predicted Qantas would never be able to compete with newer Middle Eastern airlines such as Eithad and Emirates, as well as emerging giants such as China Southern.

“The Qantas wage and cost structure places them at a significant disadvantage to the people they are flying alongside. Many of them are Asian carriers these days, they are Middle Eastern carriers where the wage structures are very much lower,’’ he said.

“Everyone has noticed the rise of Emirates and Etihad but we have to start watching the rise of China Southern and the major Chinese airlines. In my view, these major airlines in China will be dominating world aviation alongside Emirates and Etihad within literally three or four years.

“Their cost structure is very, very much lower then Qantas’ could ever be, so they will face continuing challenges in the international routes.”

Alan Joyce's press conference is over now. Before we bring you a wrap of the main points, here are a few more topics he touched.

On changes to foreign ownership rule, Joyce says both sides of politics recognise there is an unequal playing field, calling the Qantas Sale Act 'lead in its saddle' in meeting the competitive pressures.

"We are making big inroads into a cost base. We are doing more," Joyce says with reference to the latest cuts outlined earlier today.

"Prioritising its core operations" is the new management theme, Joyce explained why Qantas is putting the brakes on the Jetstar Asian network push.

Jetstar is bedding down its existing operations in Japan while in other centres such as Singapore, competitive pressures have hurt profitability. Hence the 'go slow'.

"The board of Jetstar Asia has agreed to stop the growth in that business," Joyce says.

Meanwhile, Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans sayd the premium international business will bare a "significant proportion" of the $2 billion in costs.

He did not put an actual figure on it.

"Emirates is clearly, clearly, the right partner [for Qantas] to Europe," he said.